Detailed tests of search engines

Not really about privacy but close enough. We see a lot of articles recommending alternative search engines but not too many that actually test what kind of relevant results you get from these services.
Interesting findings.

Detailed tests of search engines: Google, Startpage, Bing, DuckDuckGo, metaGer, Ecosia, Swisscows, Searx, Qwant, Yandex, and Mojeek - LibreTechTips -

https://libretechtips.gitlab.io/detailed-tests-of-search-engines-google-startpage-bing-duckduckgo-metager-ecosia-swisscows-searx-qwant-yandex-and-mojeek/

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DuckDuckGo displays site thumbnails, and so it is the best.

Very interesting article @marcdw.
I was trying these last days to install a self-hosted Searx instance just for private use.
I’m glad to hear that is that good.
Thanks for sharing.

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Curious @e.follower. I assume you read the whole article, top to bottom? Maybe try some similar testing. Thumbnails can’t be the only criteria. Or maybe so.
Anyway, a rephrase that DDG is the best “for you”. I use DDG as my default search but there have been many times where had to turn to Google to get the results I needed.

Regarding SearX, I was trying a couple of instances. Went straight to their preferences and see how each differs on which sources they have enabled by default. PrivacyTools have their own instance. It enables more sources by default. I’ll stick with that one for a bit.

I’m just kidding here. I mean, I really prefer DuckDuckGo because of thumbnails, but it cannot be a crucial parameter in objective way. Although it is strange why competitors simply ignore this pleasant detail.

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Take care of the privacy policy of the site (https://www.privacytools.io/privacy/) which also applies to search function -I think.

Thanks for the heads up. Their search instance didn’t turn out so well anyway. It’s constantly throwing errors. Sometimes a mostly blank page saying something about overload but most times similar to the screenshot.
Searx.me has been down for a long time so not sure why they still use it. Google and disroot are also shown. One day there was over half a dozen sources listed.

Been trying searx.info which is pretty good.

That’s a cool article, searx seems to be really good most of the time. It’s a pity they did not add peekier.

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Here is another guy who is willing to test the privacy level of alternative search engines, /e/spot is inside:
https://searchengine.party/


I’m surprised by the type classified as “for profit”, the “IP address Logging” and “onion service”.
About onion service, as fas I remember, /e/spot is connected behind onion network… or I’m wrong?

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Indeed I think it should be Non-Profit.

If it’s for legal reasons, it’s not really surprising. What is surprising is that Qwant has a better note even if it’s in France too. Here is what Qwants says :

For data related to the queries, Qwant retains for 7 days the keywords of your query, associated with the User Agent of your browser, and a salted hash of your IP address (that is an alphanumerical chain computed specifically so that the real IP address can’t be retrieved). The keywords are then retained with no associated personal data.

Yes it reminds me something, obviously it’s not stated so a visitor can’t know this.

Why would a search engine like qwant collect the user agent of the browser? I just don’t get how they make marketing with protecting user data on one side, but collect these things on the other side.

Very good comparison, as always from PrivacyTools (nitrohorse).

Non-Profit: Compare e: corporation structure with many staff, some payed. Versus Disroot, or PrivacyTools, where nitrohorse is a member: loose volunteer groups asking only for donations to cover expenses. E buys phones low, and sells higher for profit. E buys storage and cloud services low, and sells higher for profit. “Corporation in Public Interest” is not same as non-profit.

Onion site: In desktop torbrowser see “.onion available” in address bar. Example: searx dot space, but not always seen.

user agent of the browser: So they know Windows users on Firefox are curious for X, Linux users on Torbrowser are curious for Y, so when these visit your websites, show them advertizements for Z and T. As groups not individuals.

Welcome in the forum :slight_smile:

For me, a foundation can have commercial activities or payed people and still be “non-profit”. There is no difference between making a donation and buying a phone, in both case money is given to the foundation (if this money is injected into the foundation to help it of course).


Non-profit organization under the French law for association 1901 registered on April 26th 2018

https://e.foundation/legal-notice-privacy/

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